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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Applying Gingrich's Muslim Endorsement Statement to Christians

Newt Gingrich was asked the other night if he would endorse a Muslim-American running for US president.  He had a long response (video below), which ends with:
"A truly modern person who happened to worship Allah would not be a threat," Gingrich replied. "A person who belonged to any kind of belief in Sharia, any kind of effort to impose that on the rest of us, would be a mortal threat."

That's sort of how I feel about Christians (and Jews and others) running for President.
"A truly modern person who happened to be a  Christian would not be a threat.  A person who belonged to any kind of literal belief in Biblical Law, any kind of effort to impose that on the rest of us, would be a mortal threat."

There's a lot of worthy stuff in the bible, as there is in the Koran, but there's also a lot of 3000 year old tribal customs.  I'm not ready for a Christian extremist who believes the earth is 6000 years old and wants that taught in schools. (Newt, do Christians have to be modern persons too?) I don't want someone who will cherry pick phrases from the bible to support his personal emotional issues to impose as law.

 If a person believes the bible is literally true, and is the word of God, we're in serious trouble.  They would have the same zeal and belief in their infallibility as suicide bombers and the extreme Jewish Orthodox settlers.  Because they believe God is on their side, political opponents are seen as infidels and agents of Satan.   

Currently phrases are lifted to justify crusades against gays and gay marriage:
If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. [from twopaths]
But supporting laws that require marriage be "between a man and a woman" ignores other references in the bible to men (kings even) having multiple wives.  Seems pretty arbitrary to me.  And they don't see the irony in their use of the slippery slope argument that gay marriage will lead to polygamy!


Gingrich voices concern in the video about how Muslims treat women as though women did well in the bible and as though there were no biblical laws that require the stoning of women (and men.)  Who can predict which laws a Fundamentalist Christian might want to impose on us?  There's a lot of strange stuff in Deuteronomy to choose from.  Is this, for instance, the basis for those who oppose abortion even in the case of rape?

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

New International Version (NIV)
 28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
It seems many fundamentalists pick obscure passages that raise funds and also passions against some marginal group, while ignoring more critical standards, such as the honoring the sabbath (the fourth of the Ten Commandments).  Has anyone seen  Fundamentalists picket in front of Walmart (or anywhere else where people worked) on Sunday lately?
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.  [from Catholic Version of Ten Commandments]
How many of you have manservants and maidservants?  And what about the stranger within the gates?   There is a lot in the bible about welcoming strangers, but it seems to me so called Christians are in the forefront to lock the borders and deport aliens, aka strangers.

So, no, I don't want Sharia law imposed on us.  Nor do I want Christian or Judaic biblical law imposed on us either.  I think the danger of Christian law being imposed is far greater than Sharia law.  It's already happening.  Maybe the questioner should have asked about imposing biblical law too.


Here's the Gingrich video from TPM.



One can ask how someone can rant against Muslims and not see the same danger in their own religion. Partly I think this stems from being so immersed in one's own religion that one sees it as the obvious, one, true religion. I also think there is a capacity in human beings to compartmentalize. Islam is in one compartment of the brain and Christianity is in another. They simply never see the two compared, side to side, except in a good-bad dichotomy. But who knows?

4 comments:

  1. Newts' last mane is misspelt in the title of the post.

    I personally believe that Newt's campaign positions have nothing to do with any actual religious beliefs he might have. He seems to be a sociopath who believes very little of what he says. It is all about him pandering for votes. He'll be back to pimping his books and think tanks soon. Much less scrutiny and more lucrative to boot.

    Remember why Newt said he shut the government down?

    WASHINGTON - President Clinton said today he was "sorry and surprised" if House Speaker Newt Gingrich took offense at the way he had been treated on Air Force One.

    Gingrich complained yesterday that in 24 hours of flying to and from the Jerusalem funeral of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin last week Clinton failed to discuss their budget differences - and made Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., sit in the back of the plane and leave by the rear exit.

    The speaker said his personal pique helped prompt the partial shutdown of the federal government.


    As with many Newt stories he gets caught in a limited hangout:

    And NBC News videotape shows Gingrich and Dole disembarking at Tel Aviv just behind Clinton - via the front stairway. Gingrich explained this by saying Clinton staged an exhibition of U.S. bipartisan unity for Israeli TV, then reverted to the cold-shoulder treatment flying home.

    If they used the rear door on the predawn return to Washington, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said, they simply took "the fastest way off the plane."


    He is incompetent even when blaming others for his own actions.

    I think it is an even bet that he's already working on divorce #4 at this time. If Callista is smart she has a good prenup.

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  2. Thanks for the editing. I got rid of the e in the post, but there was one more. He doesn't seem to care much what people think, that's for sure.

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  3. In Hungary only a man-woman couple can marry according to the new constitution but I think it was the same before. For me it is never mind, I just find disturbing what some people are doing on the gay parade. I think people's prive life is not adequate on the streets. For me it is never mind what people are doing in their house, in their private sphere but in Hungary these gay parades are like a provocation to the others which is unadequate.

    However time is flying. It was like yesterday when you wrote about the previous elections and it had been almost 4 years ago.

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  4. absolutely right, Steve! thanks

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